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Statelessness in a Norwegian political context: As a signatory of the 1954 and 1961 conventions on statelessness, why is Norway using the refugee determination process as a framework of protection for stateless persons?

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Abstract

By exploring statelessness in an immigration policy implementation aspect, this thesis examines statelessness in a Norwegian political context. The 1954 and 1961 conventions on statelessness being distinct from the 1951 refugee convention, the thesis asks why Norway is using the refugee determination process as a framework of protection for stateless persons. It explores the potential rationales of Norway’s implementation of the statelessness conventions within the refugee determination process. Noting that Norway’s practice leaves a number of non-refugee stateless persons in a precarious human rights status, it primarily seeks to explain it by examining Norwegian policy outputs as outlined in various government related documents and what might have inspired them. The thesis has further extrapolated the potential rationales for the Norwegian practice from an analysis of current trends in nationality and migration related international law, the characteristics and tendency of immigration flow to Norway and implementation theories. It posits that the Norwegian approach may have been inspired by the dynamics of implementation, uniformity of practice in immigration cases and the delimitations of the 1954 statelessness convention. Additionally decisive factors may be Norway’s sovereignty in domestic policy determination, issue salience, administrative considerations and gaps in international law. Interacting within these themes are political, security and economic concerns and a general desire to control immigration and curb new instances of statelessness.

The thesis suggests that the intractability of statelessness and the parallel nature of statelessness and refugee issues may have encouraged Norway to use its comprehensive refugee determination process as a framework of protection for stateless persons. It hints at the complexity of the occurrence and resolution of statelessness in the current Westphalian system of states that grants exclusive privileges to states in nationality matters. Noting the adverse consequences of Norway’s practice on failed stateless applicants for protection, the thesis suggests that as a rational actor, Norway may have considered these as inconsequential compared to the value-maximizing aspects of its chosen policy approach. The thesis concludes by suggesting that Norway’s sovereignty in domestic policy determination appears to be an overall decisive factor in its approach on statelessness and immigration in general.